‘A Classical People Deserve a Classical Art’: Hugh Masekela and Howard University Honor Nelson Mandela

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Akua Allrich, Apartheid, Ebrahim Rasool, Howard Dodson, Howard University, Hugh Masekala, jazz, Keorapetse Kgositsile, Larry Willis, Nelson Mandela, South Africa, South Africa poet laureate

Masekala performing with Mandela slide in background. Several of the slides had Mandela in rugby garb.

Like coffee, jazz is not particularly my thing, but I’m quite pleased that the same friend who took me to Harrar Roastery convinced  me to go just a bit further down the street yesterday to Howard University and hear Hugh Masekela, South African jazz musician and activist perform ‘A Musical Tribute to Mandela.’  Masekala and a variety of performers capped off Howard University’s Mandela Day, which celebrated the 24th anniversary of Nelson Mandela’s release from prison in 1990.

Injustice Anywhere is a Threat to Justice Everywhere: Howard University Examines the Free South Africa Movement in DC

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anti-Apartheid legislation, black Hindus, Free South Africa Movement, Howard Dobson, Howard University, Moorland-Springarn Research Center, Nelson Mandela, Ronald Dellums, Ronald Reagan, South Africa, Sylvia Hill, TransAfrica Forum, Washington Office on Africa

Yesterday I attended an event at Howard University on ‘Washington, DC and the Free South Africa Movement: A Retrospective.’  The event was moderated by Dr. Howard Dobson, Director of Howard’s Moorland-Springarn Research Center, which is celebrating its centennial this year.  Panelists included former Congressman and Mayor of Oakland, Ron Dellums, as well as TransAfrica Forum board member and Professor of the University of the District of Columbia, Sylvia Hill.  A black ordained Hindu minister, Gregory McCay also spoke on discrimination in India.

Honoring Mandela at Howard Tomorrow (and Through a T-shirt Today)

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Bob Marley, Che Guevara, Embassy of South Africa, Georgia Avenue, Howard University, Nelson Mandela

As Howard University and the Embassy of South Africa prepare to honor the memory of Nelson Mandela tomorrow evening, I’ve noted an upswing in the amount of Mandela paraphernalia on the DC marketplace.

This weekend, I saw a wholesaler in the vicinity of Union Market  with a stock of Nelson Mandela t-shirts hanging in their window.  Yesterday, I was walking along Georgia Ave just north of Howard, and passed a similar storefront scene.  I wonder if this apparel will continue to gain prominence in the way that t-shirts of men with much shorter lives, such as Che Guevara and Bob Marley have become staples.  Perhaps this indicates that Mandela is seen by some as more of an anti-establishment icon than is generally accepted?

Newer readers can find some of my brief thoughts on Georgia Ave here.

The Smithsonian Honors Nelson Mandela and Examines Punk in Southern Africa

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Evicted, Harare, Ivan Kadey, Kalahari Surfers, Maputo, Mozambique, My Africa Is, National Wake, Nelson Mandela, Nosa Garrick, Punk in Africa, Smithsonian Museum of African Art, South Africa, Zimbabwe

Lead singer of former interracial South African Punk band performing with guitar at far right (Nelson Mandela on wall)

Earlier today, I dropped by the Smithsonian Museum of African Art to check out a documentary on Punk music in southern Africa.  In early 2012, I saw one of my favorite African films courtesy of the museum, so I was optimistic about this film, despite lacking interest in the genre of music it explored.  The Museum, like so much of the world right now, is paying tribute to Mandela, and I was greeted by his image as I entered the building.  Meanwhile, the film, Punk in Africa, looks at the development of that genre in South Africa, Mozambique, and Zimbabwe from the 1970s to the present.  The producer of the film, Jeffrey Brown was on hand to engage in Q&A and one of the protagonists gave a brief live performance.

Mandela Movie, Long Walk to Freedom, Gaining Traction in DC

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Amnesty International, Idris Elba, Long Walk to Freedom, Nelson Mandela, SAWIP, Terrence Howard

I’ve been seeing references to quite a few local screenings for the upcoming film on Nelson Mandela, Long Walk to Freedom, which stars Idris Elba of The Wire, as Mandela.  Amnesty International is hosting an advance screening, as is the South Africa Washington Internship Program.  And as seen above, there’s also a promotional campaign going on.

It’s a bit more slick than the last Mandela film I blogged about, which hopefully indicates that it will be of better quality than the much maligned Winnie Mandela film that starred Terrence Howard as Madiba.

Update: I must have posted this just minutes before Mandela passed away today.  Like most, I see him as an admirable character, something that becomes particularly clear when I look at the founding fathers of Namibia, Sam Nujoma, and Zimbabwe, Robert Mugabe, who survive him.